Loom feeler mechanism



Sept. 4, 192&

P. F. O'BRIEN LOOM FEELER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Go 19% ATT RN YS- INVEN U @mk SSADGQM. b mg Sept. 4, 1928.

1,683,369 P. F. OBRIEN LOOM FEELER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 23, 1925 2Sheets-Sheet 2 sitar E PATRICK F. OBRIEN, OF FRANKLIII, MASSACHUSETTS.

LOOM FEELEB MECHANISM.

Application filed September 23, 1925.

This invention relates to feeler mechanisms'for looms. and. especiallyto feeler mechanisms of the intermittent type in which thefeel'ercooperates with the filling "onlyat periodic. intervals. being atother times locked in a retracted inoperative po- --"sition in'orderto'prevent undue wear of the filling by unnecessary engagement of thefeeler therewith.

; The invention has for its object to provide, in a feeler mechanism ofthis type, improved "and simplified means for positively withdrawing thefeeler from Cooperative relation with the filling, this movement being;in excess of that imparted to'the feel-ssh the "filling itself, in orderto provide a clearance between the filling and feelcr and further insurethe effective accomplishment" of the object of this type'of" mechansm,namely that of preventing undue wear of the filling by the feeler.In'earrying out this olneot ofthe'invention, provision is made wherebythe det'e'ntwhich' locks the feeler in inoperative position itselfoperates, upon its locking movement, to effect the further with drawalof tlie' feel'er,"thereby doing" away with the complicated devicesheretofore specially provided for-"this purpose. Another object of theinvention is to provide improvedtripping, mechanism forperiodicallyrel'easing the feeler from'the detent in order to permit itto cooperate with the fillingfthis mechanismbeing of such acharacterthat the length of the periods of inactivity" of' the fee-leimay be ofsubstantially any desired length and are in nowise limited bythe design of the apparatus, as has heretofore usually been the'case,and heing' so arranged. that t'he withdrawal of the detent "isonly momentary, thereby permit ting the 'leeler to cooperate with thefilling at a single pick "orfbeat' only (unless the filling besubstantially "exhausted),' said feeler being againiiiimediately'retracted and locked after a single engagemenflwith the filling. V

The 'foregoing'and other objects 'ofthe invention; together wi'thmean'swhereby the latter may he carried into "effectwill best lie-"understoodfrom the following description of one application and embodiment thereofillustrated in the accompanying drawings It will'be' understood, h that'iular 'onf'arraiige iiientk 571m; and ashes Serial No. 58 1067.

portion of a loom having feeler mechanism constructed and arranged *inaccordance with the invention.

Fig". 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2 2, Fig. 1.shoivingthe feeler'in its operative position.

Fig. 3 a similar view showing the feeler it retracted or inoperativeposition.

and 5 are enlarged side elevations, looking from'opposite sidesrespectively, of the feeler detent. v

The invention is herein shown as-applied to a loom having the usualframe9, breast beam 10, lay 11, shuttle box 12, shuttle 13, and bobbin14, the latter being wound with the usual filling la. The shuttle box 12and shuttle 13 are formed at suitable points with slots 16 and l7through which the 'feeler may be periodically inserted to engage thefilling 15. The parts thus far referred to may be of any suitable orusual construction well-known'in the art, as may also the feeler whichas' herein shown is of the type fully disclosed in the patent toJackson, No. 1,501,012, July 8, 1924. Said feeler' comprisesaffing'er'18, pivotedat 19 to a slide 20 gu'ided'in a feeler-stand 21carried by a bracket 22 secured to a bracket 8 on the loom-frame 9,the'finger- 18 being connected bv the usual transmitter 23' with the"usual filling replenishing mechanism or stop mechanism asthe. case maybe. The feeler isn'ornially urged rearwardly, or in the dir etion of thelay, as by lneans of a spring 2& which'sin'rounds a reduced for-.va'rdly extending portion 25 pi the slide 20, said portion 25 beingguidedin an upright portion 26 of the feeler stand'2l, and "said springbeinginterposed between said upright portion 26 and a shoulder 27 on theslide.

In accordance with the present invention, the feeler' slide 20 is formedwith a cam element in the form of an inclined shoulder 28 which isengaged by a coopera-ting cam element in the form of a roller29 earriedby the detenl'li "Said detent'a clilt'riprises lm angular 'ti.

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l ment of the feeler when the cam roller 29 engages the cam surface 28.Adjustably secured, as by a set screw 35, to the shaft 34 is a secondarm 36 in which is adjustably secured an angular trip finger 37, as by aset screw 38. The roll 29 is normally urged toward the slide 20, andparticularly toward the shoulder 28, by a spring 39 connecting thedetent finger 30 with a stud 40 on the bracket 22, Fig. 5.

It will be noted that the detent is offset from the path of movement ofthe feeler and that its axis is also transverse to the move ment of thefeeler. Therefore, when the spring 39 exerts a pull upon the finger 30the detent roller 29 will have imparted to it a downward component ofmovement and likewise a frontward component of movement, the formercausing the roller 29 to engage the inclined shoulder 28, and the latterto move the feeler in a frontward direction. The parts remain in thisrelationship until the trip mechanism is brought into play to releasethe detent from engagement with the feeler.

J ournalled in a support 401 secured, as by a bolt 41, to the bracket22, is an idler sprocket 42 located adjacent the angular end of the tripfinger 37. The sprocket 42 is connected by a chain 43 with a sprocket 44which is driven at a relatively low speed from some convenient movingpart of the loom. To this end the sprocket 44 may conveniently bemounted on the 'takeup shaft 45. The sprocket chain 43 carries one ormore trips in the form of angular lugs 46 adapted, as they pass aboutthe idler sprocket 42, to engage the angular end of the finger 37.

In operation, it will be understood that at the first feeling ick of theloom, the forward movement 0 the lay 11 causes the feeler to enter theslots 16 and 17 and engage the filling 15. If there is an adequatesupply of the latter, the forward movement of the lay causes the feelerto be retracted or pushed forwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2toward that shown in Fig. 3 against the tension of the spring 24. Thiscauses the cam shoulder 28 to be carried past the cam roller 29 into orbeyond the position'shown in broken lines in Fig. 5. The spring 39thereupon draws the detent finger 30 downwardly, or in a directiontransverse to the direction of movement of the feeler into the positionshown in Figs. 3 and 4 and in full lines in Fig. 5. Continued engagement of the roller 29 with the cam shoulder 28 during this movementcauses a further retractive movement of the feeler, thereby withdrawinthe latter completely from cooperative relation with the filling, sothat, upon succeeding picks, it will not engage the same. As theoperation of the loom proceeds, the trip or trips 46 are periodicallybrought into engagement with the angular end of the trip finger 37, asshown in Fig. 3, lifting the latter, withdrawing the detent from lockingengagement with the feeler, and therefore re leasing the latter from theformer, whereupon the feeler is again moved rearwardly by the spring 24into operative position, so that, upon the next feeling pick, it will beengaged by the filling and, in theevent that there is still an adequatesupply of the latter, the operation above described is repeated. Shouldthe filling be substantially exhausted, the feeler is operated, inaccordance with the principle of operation of the particular feeleremployed, to set into operation the mechanism for stopping the loom orthe mechanism for replacing the exhausted bobbin with a full one, aswill be understood without further explanation. I

It will be noted that when a trip 46 engages the trip finger 37, asshown in Fig.

3, the slight resistance of the latter to the movement of the trip willmomentarily arrest the latter, so that the normal slack of the chain 43will be taken up in that reach toward which the trip is moving and will.

all be thrown into the opposite reach, as

shown in said figure. Thereafter the movement of the trip will continueuntil the highest point thereon is under the trip finger, and the detentfully withdrawn from looking engagement with the feeler. Immediatelythereafter the tendency of the chain to equalize the slack thereinbetween the twov reaches thereof will cause the trip 46 to beautomatically moved beyond and out of engagement with the trip finger37, thereby restoring the detent to the influence of the spring 39, sothat, upon the next suc ceeding feelin pick, the detent will again beengaged with the feeler and the latter withdrawn from cooperativerelation with the filling and locked in inoperative position. In thiswayeach period of activity of the feeler prior to the approach ofsubstantial exhaustion of the filling is limited to a single feelingpick.

It will also be seen that the use of the sprocket chain 43 connectingthe sprockets 42 and 44 provides'for a wide latitude of variation in thelength of the periods of inactivity of, the feeler mechanism. Thesprocket 44 being located at a point where its size will not render itinconvenient, it may be provided with substantially any desired numberof teeth, and the chain 43,

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which is of considerable length, is moved through its entire length onlyafter a large number of picks. It will, therefore, be seen that byproperly choosing the number of trips 46 and by properly distributingthem along the length of the chain, the period of operation of thetripping mechanism may, practically speaking, be varied almostindefinitely, as distinguished from similar mechanisms heretoforeemployed in which the period depends upon a ratchet whose size isclosely limited by considerations of practical design and by theposition in which said ratchet must necessarily be located.

It will furthermore be observed that the mechanism above described forwithdrawing the feeler from cooperative relation with the filling andlocking the same in its retracted inoperative position is of anextremely simple though effective character, both functions beingeifected by a single movement of the detent in one direction transverseto the direction of movement of the feeler, so that the locking movementof the detent serves also to cause the further retractive movement ofthe feeler, thereby eliminating the complicated mechanisms heretoforespecially provided for accomplishing the latter result.

Adjustment of the detent and trip fingers 30 and 37 in the arms 32 and36, and of said arms on the rock shaft 34, permits adaptation of themechanism to a wide variety of working conditions, it being noted,however, that the substantial retraction of the feeler by the detentpermits considerable variation in the size of bobbins or in the amountof filling thereon Without the necessity of readjustment of the partsor, in fact, any Very delicate adjustment thereof at any time.

Having thus described my invention, I claim l. in an intermittent feelermechanism for looms, in combination, a feeler having an in clined camshoulder, and a detent having a roller engaging said shoulder when thefeeler is in retracted position to lock the same in inoperative positionand to impart to said feeler an additional retractive movement.

2. In an intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, in combination, afeeler having an inclined cam shoulder, a detent having a rollerengaging said shoulder when the feeler is moved into retracted positionby engagement with the filling to impart to said feeler an additionalretractive movement and to lock the same, a spring for operating saiddetent, and a trip mechanism for periodically releasing the feeler fromthe detent.

3. In an intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, in combination, afeeler, a detent for locking said feeler in a retracted inoperativeposition, said detent comprising a locking finger, an arm by which saidfinger is carried, a rock shaft on which said arm is mounted, a secondarm on said rock shaft, a trip finger carried by said second arm, and atrip periodically engaging said trip finger to rock said shaft anddisengage said detent from locking engagement with the feeier.

i. In an intermittent l'eeler mechanism for looms, in combination, afeeler, a detent for locking said feeler in a retracted inoperativeposition, said detent comprising a locking finger, an arm by which saidlinger is adjustably carried, a rock shaft on which said arm mounted, asecond arm on said rock shaft, a trip finger adjustably carried by saidsecond arm, and a trip periodically engaging said trip finger to rocksaid shaft and disengage said detent from locking engagement with thefeeler.

In an intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, in combination, a feeler,a shiftablc support for said feeler, a detent finger, and a rollercarried by said finger engageable with said feeler support whenretracted to lock the feeler in inoperative position and withdraw thesame from engagement with the filling.

(5. In an intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, in combination, afeeler, a shittable support for said feeler, a detent finger, and aroller carried by said finger engageable with said feeler support whenretracted to lock the feeler in inoperative position and Withdraw thesame from engagement with the filling, said roller being mounted toswing about a center located more remote from the feeler than saidroller.

7. In an intermittent feeler mechanism for looms, in combination, afeeler, a shiftable support for said feeler, a detent member en gageablewith said feeler support when retracted to lock the feeler ininoperative position and withdraw the same from engagement with thefilling, said detent being mounted to swing about a center located moreremote from the feeler than the detent, and a sprocket chain having aplurality of trip devices mounted thereon for engaging said detent andperiodically withdrawing it from locking engagement with said feeler.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

PATRICK I OBRIEN.

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